The Runaway Princess and the Shepard
by BookLover223
Summary: Full Summary Inside Please Read IT! Snow tells James the story of how she fell in love with a Shepard that she believes to be long dead. How does he react? Will he share a few secrets of his own? Why does her story sound so familiar?
1. Prologue

**AN) This is my first OUAT fic so tell me how it turns out and if you want me to contine**

**Summary: One day before the one year anniversary of her first meeting with James she is no where to be found. Once he tracks her down she tells him the story of how she fell in love with a Shepard that she believed to be long dead. How does James react? Does he tell her his own secret? And why on Earth does her tale sound so familiar? Find out the real story of how Snow White met her Prince Charming and the circumstances behind that fateful day she stole his mothers ring.**

**I DO NOT OWN ONCE UPON A TIME**

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><p><strong>The Runaway Princess and the Shepard (Prolouge)<strong>

"Snow, Snow" To say James was worried about his fiancé (_his fiancé _oh how he loves those words) would be an understatement. In exactly one day it would be the one year anniversary of their first meeting and his lovely fiancé (there's that word again) was nowhere to be found. From the minute he had woken up to find her side of the bed cold and his arms empty no one had been able to tell him where she was. Eventually he closed his eyes his own words mocking him, _I will always find you, _and let the small part of him that was hyper aware of her every move guide him.

He found her in the forest why he hadn't thought to check there he hadn't a clue. She was sitting on the stump of a very familiar downed tree. The tree had been moved out of the carriage path, but had been left as a tribute to that day. He should have known the minute he got there that something was wrong with Snow. He had never been able to sneak up on her, especially in the forest. She was sitting with her legs crossed on top of the stump. She was wearing her favorite travelling cloak, one of the few possessions she had brought with her to the castle. He called her name softly and she started letting out a small noise. The hood of her cloak fell as she pulled a sword from somewhere on her person. He was on the ground with it at his thought in seconds.

"James" She stated weakly as she removed the sword from his throat and returned to how she had been moments earlier without the hood up. **James** she had called him **James**. She had rarely ever called him by his given name. Instead opting to call him your highness (sarcastically of course) or for the main part charming (happy, angry, sad, her mood didn't really matter for that one), but James he could count the number of times on one hand that she had called him that. He took a good long look at her face. He felt worry flood through him as he took in the tear tracks on her face.

"Snow," he said softly, beseechingly coming up next to her, grabbing her shoulders and looking into her eyes, "tell me what's happened." He saw the unshed tears pooling in her eyes. She grabbed onto him swiftly hugging him to her.

"You'll need to listen to me." She murmured into his neck. "You need to know but you'll have to let me explain." She continued on nervously, "I love you and I don't want you to leave," her voice became barley audible and he felt more than her next words, "Please don't leave me" It was rare that he saw this side of his princes. She was tough and strong, she always had a quip or sarcastic banter ready. She barley ever showed vulnerability especially not in public.

"Snow, look at me," she looked into his eyes, "I will love you no matter what, don't you dare think otherwise. And if you ever think of running out on me _I will find you_. Because Snow I will always want to find you." He gave her a minute to soak in the words. "Tell me, please." He added the please on as a last minute afterthought.

"James, before we start please remember that I love you, and only you." He felt a sinking sensation in his stomach. "Before I met you, years ago really I fell in love with another man." This can't be good.

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><p><strong>AN) Should I Continue it?<strong>


	2. The First Meeting

**An) *Hides under desk* I am so sorry about this, this shouldn't have taken as long as it did high school is kicking my ass. But enough about that here it is.**

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><p><strong><strong>_You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn't true. I know a lot about love. I've seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars... pain, lies, hate... It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves... You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and... What I'm trying to say, Tristan is...I think I love you_

~**Yvaine - **Stardust (2007)

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><p><strong>The Runaway Princess and the Shepard: Chapter One<strong>

"_James, before we start please remember that I love you, and only you." He felt a sinking sensation in his stomach. "Before I met you, years ago really I fell in love with another man." Well . . . this can't be good. _

She felt him stiffen and pulled from his embrace. Snow knew she shouldn't have said anything. Now he would leave and she'd be alone again. She reached for the ring on her finger, his mother's ring. He put his hands on top of hers to still them.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" He asked and almost winced at the dry almost helpless sound of his voice. He had no idea what was going on. Snow was in love, with another man. Then again was is the opportune word. What had she said, _Before I met you, years ago really I fell in love with another man_, she said it was years before they had met. But, if it was years ago then why in all the realms was she sitting here crying. He had taken a few moments to process this, but feeling her trying to move away both physically and mentally snapped him out of his stupor.

"I . . . I can't do this!" She hated sounding so weak but if she had to loose James she would rather just get it over with and separate already. She felt a pang in her heart at the thought of life without him. "I … I should just go." He chuckled, the sound was hallow and humorless.

"Don't even think about it princess." He said smirking as he adjusted his hands to grip her wrists tightly, leaving her no room to move. He wasn't certain about what she was talking about, but there was no way in hell she was going to get away from him that easily. His mind flashed to unwanted memories _the coffin she looks as though she could be sleeping but she's gone and she's never coming back. He never got the chance to truly get to know her, they had never shared stories, and they had barley ever even kissed. Grumpy apologizes, which in any other circumstance he would laugh at but now it just shows how hopeless the situation is. He asks to say good-bye and they can't deny him that, not now. They remove the glass and he leans in expecting to feel her cold, dead, lips. But he doesn't and suddenly she's awake and he will never leave her again. _The smirk leaves his lips and the good humor vanishes"Snow," he tried softly, "please I'll listen. I won't leave you." He looks into her green eyes, "I love you" Snow took a deep breath and began again.

The first time we met I was five and my father was doing his yearly check on the welfare of his subjects . . .

_ "Snow do you want to stay in the carriage or come inside with me," King Leopold asked his daughter, trying to draw her out of her shell. Her mother, Queen Emma, had recently fallen ill and was unable to see Snow for more than a few minutes at a time. Snow, as expected, was not taking it well and had withdrawn from the world. She had begun to spend more and more time secluded in her mother's rose garden or in the library. Leopold was worried, his sweet young girl was pulling away from the world and there was little he could do about it. _

_ In the end the trip had been Emma's idea, she had hoped that the two most important people in her life could find a way to console each other._

_ "I think I'll stay here Daddy," Snow replied never looking away from the window. That was another new thing Leopold reflected. Snow had recently taken to calling him Daddy. A wise cricket had told him that it was her way of clinging to her loved ones, that she was trying to deal with the possible loss of her mother but wanted to hold her father as close as possible. Leopold sighed._

_ "Alright Snow, I will be back soon. I love you my dearest Snow." Snow finally turned from her place at the window and launched herself at her father, clinging to him tightly for a moment._

_ "I love you too daddy." They stayed like that for a minute, then two suspended in time united by their grief. They parted reluctantly and Snow returned to her window. Leopold watched his daughter close herself off one more, sighed, and walked to the cottage._

_ It was five minutes later that Snow heard an outraged sigh followed by a loud bleat. Curiosity getting the best of her (as it does all too often) she left the carriage sending a glance at the cottage to be certain her father was still there she took off over the hill towards the source of the noise. It was a young boy; he seemed to be around her age and was having difficulty with a lamb._

_ "Come on," He yelled exasperated at the lamb. Trying, in vain to get it into its pen._

_ "You know, yelling might not be the best option," Snow said softly speaking for the first time. The young boy jumped, suddenly startled. He fell into the mud, creating a large noise and startling the lamb into its pen._

_ "You have got to be kidding me!" He yelled slamming the pen closed as he got up, shaking off some mud as he went. A few flecks landed on Snow making her jump. The noise remained the boy of her presence. "Who are you?"_

_ "Well, aren't we polite," she threw at him sarcastically wiping a stray fleck of mud off on a clean part of his shirt. "I wouldn't mind a thank you either." She prompted._

_ "Thank you," he conceded his bright blue eyes locking onto hers, "Now, who are you?" She sighed annoyed._

_ "I'm here with my father checking in on your family," She explained, giving him the bare minimum. The boy paused for as if waiting for something else._

_ "And your name?" He prompted._

_ "You tell me." She responded as she thought her mother would in the situation, the same wit and charm._

_ "I'll tell you what," The boy conceded, "because you helped me and I don't have a name for this lovely lady," he pointed at the goat; "if you tell me your name I'll name her after you." James had no idea what had come over him, he was talking like Dad did whenever mom was mad at him. He didn't do it on purpose, but he didn't regret that it had happened._

_ "I'm Snow, Snow White." She said holding out her hand after a short period of thought. _

_ "Snow," James said testing the word on his tongue, "Snow is a perfect name for her. Her wool is white as snow. Why didn't I think of this earlier?" She shrugged and they both laughed. "By the way I'm-"_

_ "Snow there you are, come on it's time to go." Leopold had seen most of the scene play out after seeing them talking on his tour around the land. He hadn't wanted to interrupt them, but he and Snow really did need to go. _

_ "Ok Daddy," Snow replied rather reluctantly, "Guess what?" She proceeded to tell him about the lamb named after her on the way back to the carriage. Leopold was shocked; after months of his little girl being withdrawn she was suddenly back to the bubbly little girl she had been until Emma had fallen ill. They were about to depart when Snow suddenly stopped and turned back to the young boy. "What's your name?"_

_ "James," he replied, "I'm James."_

_ "James," she repeated in the same manor he had repeated her name earlier. "It was nice meeting you James." She quickly ran and hugged him, after a moment he squeezed back._

_ Leopold from where he was sitting watched the interaction with great interest. He swore to himself that after he told Emma about this they would all come back so she could enjoy seeing Snow being herself again._

_ The carriage ride back felt much shorter than it actually was. The two occupants talked to each other animatedly and enjoyed one another's company. _

_ It would be two hours until Snow and Leopold arrived home. It would be two hours until all thoughts of the day would be removed from their minds. It would be two hours until Princess Snow broke down into tears in the arms of King Leopold. It would be two hours until they would learn that while they were out Queen Emma finally succumbed to her disease. It would be two hours until the first time Snow White ever felt abandoned. _

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><p><em><strong>AN #2) Once again I am so sorry for the amount of time between posts. As an apology I posted another SnowCharming fic so check out Safe from anything But Her Doubts.**_

__**AN # 3) _I don't have much time, but I have a lot of little ideas and drabbles for OUAT. Does anyone want me to post them?_**

**__Sorry Again!**

**BL223**


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